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All
Saints, North Wootton

North
Wootton is the very outer tip of Kings Lynn's
northern suburbia, and the church is at the far
north end of it - it is so rural in its setting
that you woud not know you were anywhere near a
town. The medieval parish church here was in a
very sorry state by the early 19th century; the
tower had collapsed, the chancel had been taken
down, and the porch was leaning at a very odd
angle - or that could just be the perspective of
my photograph of the photocopy of Ladbroke's
drawing hanging up in the porch. It was
completely demolished in 1850, and replaced by
this new church, the work of Anthony Salvin, at a
cost, according to Pevsner, of £2,200 (about
half a million in today's money).

The style is very much Early
English, familar from the nearby Marshland churches, with
a grand west door flanked by niches, and lots of blind
arcading on the base of the tower. Plate tracery and
three narrow lancets in the east complete the picture.
The tower has a stair turret in the south-west corner
which is capped in the Scottish baronial style, popular
in the mid-century.

The font is a rather striking 19th
century tub with stylised foliage. All Saints came fully
furnished, and although we must expect churches like this
to lack great historical or architectural interest, there
is still a fine atmosphere inside, a feeling that the
mid-Victorians have not long since left. The choir stalls
in the chancel are particularly good, their heads
presumably those of parishioners - one has wonderful
Victorian muttonchop whiskers. The windows have a bit of
character from the additions of stained glass during the
course of the rest of the century; Pevsner says it is all
by Ward & Hughes. Some of it is interesting, most of
it rather run of the mill. Perhaps the most interesting
figure is the rare St Frances; you can also see her at Kimberley. Finally, there are gorgeous Art Nouveau
lamp standards throughout the church, and then that was
pretty much it. On this misty autumn day there was a
touch of melancholy about it, which suited it rather
well.

In recent years, the sanctuary has
been simplified, but when we looked under the tower, we
found an early 20th century reredos reset there, with
sweetly naive paintings of the Annunciation. I have never
seen Gabriel look so young. The base of the tower has
been filled in to form a kitchen and other facilities,
and this has been done very well. Up above, there is a
little room, set into the tower, that can be used for
meetings. All in all, this is a lovely, welcoming little
church, and I'm sure Mr Salvin would be pleased to see
that so much of its integrity has survived.